News
Microsoft releases Amalga hospital information system
9 April 2009
Microsoft Corp has released its suite of hospital information
systems, Microsoft Amalga in the US and Europe. The Amalga Family
includes what Microsoft calls a 'unified intelligence system', a
hospital information system and RIS/PACS. Microsoft first announced the
product in February (see bjhc&im news: Microsoft announces hospital software suite)
Amalga addresses a critical challenge of healthcare providers —
integrating vast amounts of clinical, administrative and financial
information that flow in and out of disparate information systems, and
tailoring that information for use by physicians, analysts, laboratory
technicians, nurses and administrators.
“This is an important milestone for Amalga,” said Steve Shihadeh,
vice president, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. “This release benefits
from over 10 years of development at Washington Hospital Center and
feedback from some of the world’s most reputable health organizations.
Amalga fulfills its promise to unify information across the health
enterprise and open up new opportunities to improve patient care,
organizational quality and operational efficiency. We look forward to
demonstrating the value these leading organizations are realizing from
the use of Amalga.”
“With Amalga, we’ll be able to manage queries across massive amounts
of data, helping providers to improve patient care and helping our
organization to become a full-service regional network,” said Dr. Edward
Barthell, co-founder of the Wisconsin Health Information Exchange.
Other early adopters of the system in the US include hospitals at
academic medical centres such as Johns Hopkins Health System and New
York-Presbyterian Hospital; large health systems such as MedStar Health,
Novant Health and St. Joseph Health System; and research leaders such as
H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.
Amalga takes advantage of health enterprises’ investments in existing
health IT solutions and makes it possible for the entire organization to
gain quick access to data and turn that information into critical
knowledge that facilitates better decision-making and improved patient
outcomes. It is built on widely used and supported Microsoft products to
deliver important features, including security, high availability,
scalability and full audit capabilities. It also offers simplified
deployment and improved supportability through streamlined
administration, configuration and self-provisioning tools for users.
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